The Tigers have done a great job showing some vengeance following the disappointment that was brought at the end of last season. Mizzou has leaned on their depth, and dominated the majority of their opponents so far.
Their schedule isn’t going to get any easier, so it’s good the team learns their identity now, and they’ve succeeded in every part of that. Head coach Dennis Gates has had a plethora of injuries dealt to him this season, and he’s responded in a fantastic way.
The Tigers extended their undefeated start to 7-0 for the first time since the 2022-23 campaign, with a victory versus South Carolina State on Tuesday evening.
The team’s depth has been strong, and their offense has nearly hit or surpassed the century mark a number of times this season. Even with a somewhat weak non-conference schedule, it’s still encouraging to see them play this way offensively, while holding their opponents to low numbers in shooting all around.
Now, Cleveland State comes to town, for a 1 p.m. tipoff on Black Friday. The Vikings enter the contest 3-5, and fifth in the Horizon League.
The Vikings have taken down Capital, Radford and Waynesburg University throughout the season, all of which coming at home in Cleveland.
Their trouble comes playing away, with a number of blowouts, most noteably a 47-point loss to Northwestern on November 10th.
Their sidelines are led by former Penn State and West Virginia player Rob Summers, who also competed overseas before beginning his coaching career.
He coached for Glenville State, Urbana, James Madison, Miami of Ohio and ironicly enough, Mizzou as an assistant for a season, before heading to Cleveland State ahead of this season.
The program has made the NCAA Tournament just once since 2008, when they clinched a first-round berth in 2020. Back then, their head coach was Dennis Gates, who led their squad for a number of years before coming to Columbia.
The Vikings haven’t taken down an AP Top-25 opponent since a win at then-No. 7 Vanderbilt in 2011. The Tigers aren’t quite ranked, but did recieve several votes towards a potential ranking, a sign that they may appear top-25 in the coming weeks, with the help of some upsets.
Cleveland State is very much led by two players on both sides of the ball, Tre Beard and Dayan Nessah.
Beard, a senior playing in his first season after transferring from a local school, is avearging 16 points per game, on 48% shooting from the field, and 49% from deep, on around five shots from deep per night.
The Ohio native plays the most minutes on the game, and has started every one since coming to the Vikings. He adds, two rebounds, three assists and two steals per night as well.
Alongside him is Nessah. He’s a sophomore from Switzerland, also averaging 16 a game, but adding six rebounds too. He also notches two assists, a block and a steal, showing his effort on defense as well.
Since coming over from George Washington last season, Nessah has too started every game, playing the majority of them as well. He’s very efficient from inside the paint, averaging 55% from there, but doesn’t have much game, once he gets far from the basket.
As far as the Tigers strategy here, they just need to shut these two down, and not let this one get out of hand. As long as Mizzou plays half as good as they have all season, they’ll be able to defend home court, and celebrate a win to start the post-Thanksgiving weekend.
The Tigers have started this season hot, and they can easily continue, as long as they play their brand of basketball come Friday afternoon.
